Preseason Game 3: Utah 101, Warriors 78

SALT LAKE CITY – Warriors head coach Mark Jackson wanted his starters to get their work in early Tuesday and then take off for the rest of the night.

They pretty much skipped straight to the “take off” portion of the plan.

Probably because they were, the Warriors looked like a team that was playing its third exhibition game in four nights – including playing the second game of a back-to-back at altitude at the EnergySolutions Arena – and got run out of the building 101-78 by Utah.

The Warriors’ starters tried to play close to the breakneck tempo that their coach wants on offense, but they raced out on the break and didn’t have the legs to knock down shots they often make. They combined to shoot 15-of-45 from the field, a number helped only slightly by Andre Iguodala’s 3-for-6 evening.

A night after showing some positive signs on defense against Sacramento, the Warriors opened the night against Utah by forcing five turnovers in the opening eight minutes and allowing the Jazz to shoot 3-of-14 from the floor during the stretch.

But weary legs made for lazy habits as the game continued, and Utah put together a 12-1 run toward the end of the first quarter to take a lead it never relinquished. The Jazz went on to make 50.6 percent (39-of-77) of their shots in the final 40 minutes – a far cry from the defense expected out of a Warriors’ group that specifically improved its defense with Iguodala, Toney Douglas and Jermaine O’Neal during the offseason.

O’Neal didn’t travel with the because of spasms in his lower back, and Jackson said he didn’t want a choice to force the issue for one day to end up costing the team a week down the road. Harrison Barnes, who started the first two games, also skipped the trip because of inflammation in his left foot, but Jackson said he doesn’t expect the injury to linger.

“It was just smart for us to shut him down,” said Jackson, who also said that Barnes initially hurt his foot prior to the first exhibition game Saturday.

The absence of the two regular rotation players the lackluster play from the starters opened the door for minutes for some of the Warriors’ youngsters.

Seven-footer Ognjen Kuzmic, a 2012 second-round pick who is preparing for his rookie season, had four rebounds and two blocked shots in 9 ½ minutes. This year’s first-round pick, Nemanja Nedovic put up five points and two assists in seven minutes, and training-camp invitee Dewayne Dedmon added two points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 12 ½ minutes.